The Role of the Agile Business Analyst
- 1. The Flow of the Agile Business Analyst Steve Adolph Photo by K. W. Sanders Steve Adolph steve@wsaconsulting.com 1
- 2. § 3 2
- 3. WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) On a post-‐it note, complete the following sentence: “This was a really great workshop because….” Where are the BAs? 3
- 4. In the agile world, do I s@ll have a useful job? Where in an agile process is the BA? What does the BA do in an agile process? Photo by Caroline Schiff Photography Scrum Framework Daily Scrum Sprint 2-4 Weeks Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Product Increment 4
- 5. Scrum Roles Scrum Master Product Owner ? Photo by Gavin White Photo by Greg Peverill-Cont Delivery Team Photo by Reinhold Behringer Where is the BA? Even Here? Out Here? Here? Scrum Master Product Owner Here? Team Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Product Increment 5
- 6. Analysis Design Waterfall – Agile Hybrid “Water Scrumming” Where is the BA? Implement Test Where is the BA? Scaled Agile Framework™ Big Picture 6
- 7. So, Just Where are the BAs? What is a BA? In your groups discuss the BA role: What does a BA do? What should they do? What contribution do they make? Summarize your conversation and be prepared to present your summary. 7
- 8. The Shocking Truth About Requirements Or Why We Need to be Agile Business Analysts They Change! Photo by “Mad Physicist” 8
- 9. Embrace Change! Uncertainty in the Project Goal What our SRS spec’d Uncertainty in Stakeholder Satisfaction Space Initial State Actual Path and precision of artifacts Scope Creep or Learning? Courtesy Philippe Kruchten Source: W. Royce, IBM The Fog 9
- 10. ng rni a Le The distribu@on of features used in a typical applica@on How can we get more of this…. …and less of this? 10
- 11. SRS Analysis Design Implement Test Requirements and the Cone of Uncertainty 11
- 12. Flow Lean for Design Problems with Queues 12
- 13. Batch Size “We fail to recognize the critical relationship between batch size and cycle time, and the critical relationship between batch size and feedback speed” – Donald Reinersten The Problem with Stage Gates and Phases: Inhibi@ng Flow Analysis Design The work product being transferred from one phase to another is 100% of the work product of the previous phase. This is maximum theoretical batch size and will result in maximum theoretical cycle time … Implement Test Don Reinertsen, The Principles of Product Development Flow 13
- 14. How to Reduce Waste and Create a Flow of Value Enhance your opportunity for learning by leaving things un@l the last RESPONSIBLE moment Photo by Nick Wheeler How to Walk Down the Road in the Fog Release 1 ITERATION 1 Task 1 4 hours Vision Release 2 ITERATION 2 ITERATION 3 Task 2 6 hours Release 3 ITERATION 4 Task 3 2 hours Task 4 8 hours Task 5 2 hours Photo by Matthias Werner 14
- 15. Release 2 Next Release Release 3 Progressive Story Elaboration And Multi Level Planning Release 1 Current Release Current and next Sprint Reducing Waste: Reverse the Cone of Uncertainty Wishful Thinking What we want someday What we need soon What we need now “Cone of Learning” 15
- 16. Agile Business Analysis: The BA as a Creator of Value Create a steady flow of valuable “ready” stories Group Exercise: Among your colleagues discuss how you generate requirements in your organization. Consider the following: Are you more flow (small batch) or large batch? - Is it an official process or unofficial? - What is a valuable requirement? Summarize your discussion and be prepared to present it to the rest of the workshop. 16
- 17. The “BIG” Story Photo by Brian Bennett A User Story As a traveler, I want to be able to cancel a reservation in one move, so that all the details can handled. Acceptance Criteria: § Cancel res for hotel, car, plane § Charge 10% fee § Confirmation email 17
- 18. User Stories are Valuable I’d pa y I’d pay mo ney mone y to h ave th a t. t. tha w kno to ey n mo ay dp I’ to s ee tha t. …Or what if you are building this? 18
- 19. UML Model of a Backlog Item Backlog Item Realized by Epic 0,1 Story 1..* Ref Dean Leffingwell Epic Really Big Epic Epic Epic Epic Epic 19
- 20. Story Splitting Story Hierarchy 20
- 21. A Value Based Work Break Down Story 1 Story 2 GUI Business Logic Database Are We Done Yet? Story 1 Story 2 GUI Business Logic Database 21
- 22. Are We Done Yet? Story 1 Story 2 GUI Business Logic Database The Agile BA Five Principles Creating a Flow of Value 22
- 23. Five Principles for Crea@ng a Steady Flow of Value 1. Open the Channels 2. Chart the Flow 3. Generate Flow 4. Lean out the Flow 5. Bridge the Flow Principle #1 Open the Channels Photo by Peter Vajda 23
- 24. Don’t be this… …be this 24
- 25. Principle #2 Chart the Flow Photo by Chris Seward Mul@ Level Planning Vision Release 1 ITERATION 1 Task 1 4 hours Release 2 ITERATION 2 ITERATION 3 Task 2 6 hours Release 3 ITERATION 4 Task 3 2 hours Task 4 8 hours Task 5 2 hours Photo by Matthias Werner 25
- 26. Principle #3 Generate Flow § Photo by Eric Begin Generating Flow Through Story Splitting 26
- 27. By Development Phase? By Component? 27
- 28. Three Approaches for Generating Flow l Model Driven l Acceptance Criteria Driven l Hi fidelity-‐ Low Fidelity 28
- 29. UML Model of a Backlog Item Model optionally elaborated by Backlog Item Other Types . . . State Diagram Class Diagram Use Case Epic Realized by 0,1 1..* Story Ref Dean Leffingwell Models aodels are you using? What mnd Model Usage Take 5 minutes to interview someone not seated in your group: 1. What models do they use? 2. What aspects of the problem domain do the models reveal? 3. Do they find the models useful? 4. What problems (if any) have they encountered with the models? Be prepared to present your findings Photo by Jason Coleman 29
- 30. Model Driven User Stories As a traveler…. Upgrade Seat § Actor: Traveler: Ticketed passenger § Main Success Scenario § 1. Traveler enters her account code for the flight and requests a seat upgrade. § 2.The system verifies the traveler is eligible for upgrade. § 3. The system verifies there are seats available for upgrading. § 4. The system upgrades the Traveler seat assignment, and the appropriate upgrade certificates are removed from the Traveler’s account. As a traveler I Upgrade want to upgrade my seat… Seat Traveler § 5. The system issues an upgrade receipt to the Traveler. § Alternatives § 1a: Traveler is a frequent flier § 1a.1 The system displays her current mileage and recent flight activity. § As a traveler I want to see my current status 3a: Traveler does not have enough upgrade certificates § § 3a.1 Traveler purchases additional upgrade certificates. Business Rules § Upgrade Eligibility § Platinum frequent flyers may request an upgrade 72 hours prior to departure. § Gold frequent flyers may request an upgrade 24 hours prior to departure. § Silver frequent flyers are not eligible for upgrades § As a traveler I want to purchase upgrade certificates. Split Along Acceptance Criteria As a traveler, I want to be able to cancel a reservation in one move, so that all the details can handled. Acceptance Criteria: § Cancel res for hotel, car, plane § Charge 10% fee § Confirmation email 30
- 31. Cancel res for hotel, car, plane As a traveler, I want to be able to cancel my reservations for a hotel, car, and plane in one move so all details are handled. Acceptance Criteria: § plane reservation is canceled § Hotel reservation is canceled § Car reservation is canceled Plane Reserva@on is Cancelled As a traveler, I want to be able to cancel my plane reservation in one move so all details are handled. Acceptance Criteria: § Cancelation request is sent to airline § Confirmation received from airline reservation is canceled 31
- 32. Low-‐Fidelity/High Fidelity Photo by Vanessa Arn Photo by Alberto Cardona Bill Wake’s 20 Ways to Split a Story: 1 through 9 the “Big Picture” Consider First Defer / Later Explanation Research Implement What have others done? Spike Implement Explore a quick solution Manual Automated Often have to retain manual solution anyway Buy Build Trade cost of customizing…. Build Buy ….versus cost of implementing yourself Single User Multi – User Fewer worries about scale, user accounts. API only User Interface Test may function without UI Character or Script GUI UI Simple interface can prove out ideas Generic UI Naked objects approach can be cheaper Custom UI § - http://xp123.com/articles/twenty-ways-to-split-stories/ 32
- 33. Bill Wake’s 20 Ways to Split a Story: 10 through 16 the “ilities” Consider First Defer / Later Explanation Static Dynamic Do once and ignore updates Ignore Errors Handle Errors Minimize Error codes (don’t ignore exceptions) Transient Persistent Focus on behaviour over persistence Low Fidelity High Fidelity Quality of result (e.g. pixel depth) Unreliable Reliable “Perfect uptime is very expensive” Wm Pietri Small Scale Large Scale Build load capacity over time Less “ilities” More “ilities” Address NFRs later § - http://xp123.com/articles/twenty-ways-to-split-stories/ Bill Wake’s 20 Ways to Split a Story: 17 through 20 the “Features” (+ 2 more) Consider First Defer / Later Explanation Few Many Easier to do fewer features Main Flow Alternative Flows Happy paths versus all possible paths 0 1 Nothing is easier than something 1 Many One is easier than many One level All levels One level is the base case for all levels Base Case General Case Base case must be done, others needn’t § - http://xp123.com/articles/twenty-ways-to-split-stories/ 33
- 34. When to Use? Big Epic representing a significant feature that should be implemented in a few months? Smaller “story”, some functional uncertainty, and low technical risk? Smaller “story”, with some technical risk? Creating a Cadence for Generating Flow § Visioning § Road mapping § Release planning § Sprint Planning § Backlog Grooming Photo by Davide Simonell 34
- 35. How are you generating flow? In your groups discuss the following topics 1. What ceremonies do you have that generate flow? 2. What are the impediments to generating a flow of sprintable stories? 3. What changes do you have influence to make that can overcome these impediments and improve flow? Be prepared to share your conclusions. Principle 4 “Lean out the Flow” Craig Kohtz 35
- 36. Product Development Flow Queues are bad…. mmmkay? 36
- 37. Problems with Queues Longer Cycle Times Increase Risk More Variability Queues Create… More Overhead Lower Quality From Product Development Flow by Donald Reinersten Less Motivation What is the Problem with Stage Gates and Phases? Analysis Design ? Implement Test Don Reinertsen, The Principles of Product Development Flow 37
- 38. @#$%!!! We don’t have to worry about queues and variance, we’re agile! We just throw @#$ into the backlog! We’re Agile? Where is the value? 38
- 39. Wow! I love what I’m hearing about this agile transformation thing you’re doing…are you really delivering new features every two weeks? Yes! We get new valuable features into revenue service every two weeks. Photo by World Bank Photo Collection Photo by Pennybinary I love you guys! Look I’ve been thinking about a new feature that will just rock the market place. When can I have it? Let’s see, you’ll have to talk to the product owner, but right now we have over 300 items in our backlog and we’re delivering about 5 items each sprint….. Photo by World Bank Photo Collection Photo by Pennybinary 39
- 40. “Lean out the Flow” Leaning out the flow is a principle and a set of practices for minimizing the inventory of requirements (Work in Progress), using small batches of requirements and minimizing queues to facilitate rapid feedback and learning. Craig Kohtz Decreasing Queue Length: Shape of a well groomed Backlog 40
- 41. Tools for Leaning Out the Flow § Groom the Backlog § Collabora@on § Cadence Backlog Grooming l Looking forward over the next few iterations and slicing stories to fit into the funnel l Confirming which existing stories are to be included l Adding new stories based on risks, new discoveries, bugs and “overhang” stories Setting the theme/stories for the upcoming iteration Slicing large stories Assigning stories for expansion 41
- 42. Mul@-‐Level Planning Grooming and Cadence Release 1 ITERATION 1 ITERATION 2 Release 2 ITERATION 3 ITERATION 4 Vision Release 3 ITERATION 5 ITERATION 6 Decreasing Lq Queue Length: Multi Level Planning and the Groomed Backlog Future Release Next Release Current Release 42
- 43. Reducing Queue Length: Backlog Policy and Well Groomed Backlog(s) Portfolio Backlog: Epics representing large initiatives Feature Backlog: Features for Next Release Team Backlog: Current Release 43
- 44. Closer Collaboration Cadence Rhythm creates predictability and facilitates flow 44
- 45. Toss the Trash Photo by Ming Xia “Lean out the Flow”: Lessons Learned § Queues are bad: Limit Work in Progress § Don’t assume you don’t have large queues just because you’re “agile” § Collaborate!! § Progressive Elaboration - Leave it to the last responsible moment § Collaborate!! § Multi Level Planning § Collaborate!! § Groom with regular cadence 45
- 46. Principle #5 Bridge the Flow Photo by Ava Babil Governance and the PMO View of the World Initiation / Planning Visio Bus ine Cas ss e n Ass e SR S Arc hite Ris k ssm en Willt it be ready in time? Project Execution Will it work? Is it safe? and Control Is this project still a SO W good bet? T Pro jec Pla t n est Pla n ctur e Project Conclusion Tes Res t ults 46
- 47. Working in your groups, discuss the following questions for Bridging the Flow: In terms of stage gates and documentation and rapid feedback cycles: 1. Which stage gates and documents are relevant (e.g. actually used, or necessary)? 2. Which are required by outside regulatory agency? 3. Which could be eliminated altogether? 4. Which could potentially be, optimized, or lightened? 5. Which gate keepers can you engage as allies? Be prepared to report out your answers (and questions) The Flow of the Agile BA 47
- 48. Where is the BA? Scrum Master Product Owner ? Photo by Gavin White Photo by Greg Peverill-Cont Delivery Team Photo by Reinhold Behringer The 5 Principles for the Flow of the Agile BA l Principle 1: Open the Channels l Cadence l Boundary Spanning l Personal Networks l Informal Backchannels l Principle 2: Chart the Flow l Vision l Roadmap 48
- 49. The 5 Principles for the Flow of the Agile BA l Principle 3: Generate Flow l Model Driven Stories l Splitting stories along acceptance criteria l Lo-‐fidelity/Hi Fidelity story splits l Principle 4: Lean Out the Flow l Self organization – decreasing average processing time l Limit Queue Length l Multi-‐level planning (Chart the Flow) l Monitor backlog size The 5 Principles for the Flow of the Agile BA l Principle 5: Bridge the Flow l Optimize Stage Gates l Eliminate, Lighten, or Optimize Documentation l Cultivate Allies l Don’t let required work products slow cycle time: Be prepared to reverse engineer work products 49